Q19-22

B: Hi Betty, nice to see you again! How long ago did we two meet in the student centre? I'm glad the final examinations are over, and we don't have to stay up all night to cram all the academic stuff into our minds.

G: Yes. I’m glad we can be here again to relax, and have fun with other fellow students. And now we can look forward to our summer holiday. I've been thinking of going to the States for some time.

B: I think it would be much better for you to go on holiday here in England than to the United States. To start with, it's a lot nearer, and so it would be much cheaper to get around. That means you will have far more money to spend.

G: That may be true. But thinking about when you get there. There are much more to do in the United States. There are so many different things to see, and places to go. Imagine you could go to New York, San Francisco, the Grand Canyon, and Disney World!

B: Exactly! Disney World! I have been dreaming of going there ever since my childhood.

G: So, you are changing your mind, aren't you?

B: I'm still worrying about the cost of taking a trip to the States. Meanwhile, if you stay here in England, you can probably take up some part-time jobs. That way, you can earn extra money to support your study next semester.

G: Maybe you are right. I’ll think it over, and talk about it with my parents while I'm home. Anyway, it is they who pay for my study here in the university.

19. What has the man been doing recently?

20. Why does the man wants to spend his holiday in England?

21. Where is this conversation taking place?

22. At the end of the conversation, what does the woman decide to do?

Q23-26

All humans experience stress. It is a necessary part of life. Generally speaking, a person's ability to deal with stress is affected by his or her feelings, attitude and outlook on life. To start with, my topic for this week's lecture is teenage stress.

Parents tend to think that their children's adolescence is a carefree period of life. However, study show that teenagers can experience the most stress of all people. They can experience stress related to money, family problems, self-esteem, acceptance by their peers, getting accepted into college, choosing a career, and pressure to do well in school, sports or clubs. One reason for such stress is that childhood has gotten shorter, and the perception of children has changed. With the rapid advance of information technology, children can get messages that in the past, were probably meant only for adults. And the dividing line between childhood and adulthood ceases to exist. Children do not play as many as their games as we used to. And most of their games and sports nowadays are those usually performed by adults. Youngsters are encouraged to use adult language that was once never to be heard around a child.

Today, our people are under tremendous pressure to achieve and succeed. It seems to me that the higher our living standard is, the more stress our children experience. In any case, the way by which we live today definitely has something to do with the increase of the level of stress.